A New Beginning for
Organic Food Industry
By Mohamad Noh Samik
Director Vegetables and Field Crops Division
Department of Agriculture
And Salmah Mohd. Nordin
Standards Management Department
SIRIM Berhad
In Klang Valley, there are many establishments selling organic food products and quite a number of restaurants that serve only organic food. Organic food products are retailed at a higher price than non-organic products. The table below shows the range of price for organic vegetables.
Products / Price (RM/Kg)Long bean / 12
Brinjal / 11
Tomato / 12.6
Cabbage / 9.5
What makes these products organic and who certifies them?
Concept and principles of organic farming
Organic farming is a holistic production management system, which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It emphasises the use of management practices in preference to the use of off farm inputs. This is accomplished by using wherever possible cultural, biological and mechanical methods as opposed to using synthetic materials to fulfil any specific functions within the system.
An organic farming system is designed to:
a)enhance the biological diversity within the whole system;
b)increase soil biological activity;
c)maintain long term soil fertility;
d)recycle wastes of plant and animal origin in order to return nutrients to the land thus minimising the use of non-renewable resources;
e)rely on renewable resources in locally organised agricultural system;
f)promote the healthy use of soil, water and air as well as minimise all forms of pollution thereto that may result from agricultural practices;
g)handle agricultural products with emphasis on careful processing methods in order to maintain the organic integrity and vital qualities of the products at all stages.
For products to be called organic, the production must conform to a certain established organic standard and certified by a recognised certifying body. Recognising the need for such a standard and the consequential certification process, a Malaysian Standard, MS 1529: 2001 entitled The production, processing, labelling and marketing plant-based organically produced food was developedfor adoption by growers and processors.
MS 1529: 2001
The standard was developed by the Working Group on Organic Foods which comprises representatives from the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Ministry of Health, Malaysian Palm Oil Board MPOB), Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA), Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Centre for Environment Technology and Development Malaysia (CETDEM), a few organic product producers and SIRIM Berhad.
This standard has been prepared to provide a harmonised approach to the requirements, which relate to the production of, and the labelling and claims for, organically produced foods. It sets out the principles of organic production at farms, preparation, storage, transport, labelling and marketing stages. This standard also provides an indication of accepted permitted inputs for soil fertilising and conditioning, pest and disease control and, food additives and processing aids.
The aims of this standard are:
a)to protect consumers against deception and fraud in the market place and unsubstantiated product claims;
b)to protect producers of organic produce against misrepresentation of other agricultural produce as being organic;
c)to ensure that all stages of production, preparation, storage, transport and marketing are subject to inspection and comply with this standard;
d)to harmonise provisions for the production, certification, identification and labeling of organically grown produce;
e)to provide national standard for organic food control system in order to facilitate recognition of national systems as equivalent for the purpose of export, and
f)to maintain and enhance organic agricultural systems in Malaysia so as to contribute to local and global sustainability.
The standard applies to both unprocessed plant and plant product, and processed products for human consumption (derived mainly from unprocessed plant and plant products) which carry or intended to carry, descriptive labelling referring to organic production methods.
Inspection and certification
Inspection and certification systems areusedto
verify organicproductionsystemandthelabelling
of, and claims for, organically produced foods.
The institutional framework for the process of inspection and certification of organic products in this country is shown in the chart below. As in the chart, the Department of Agriculture will initially be the certifying body. This is to ensure that the cost of inspection and certification will be kept to the minimum as organic industry in Malaysia is still in the preliminary stage of development.
The procedures and guidelines for inspection and certification are being formulated. This will be followed by intensive training of inspectors.
Conclusions
MS 1529 and the related inspection and certification systems are new beginnings for the organic industry in this country. With these, consumers will not be deceived and producers of organic products are protected against other food products falsely labelled as organic.
It is hoped that more farmers will convert to organic farming, as this method of production is environmental friendly and in harmony with nature. Moreover, the demand for organic products is steadily increasing from both the domestic and international markets.
Malaysia